Akhenaten and the Hymn of Aten

In the second year of his reign Akhenaten abandoned the traditions of polytheism and only praised one god, Aten, god of the visible sun. Akhenaten cannot be solely blamed for this radical change because there were signs of it present when his father showed Amun Re more praise and tribute than the other gods. Akhenaten’s worship to Aten landed him the distinction of being the first monotheistic ruler in recorded history. He decided to be the only priest of his new religion and this is the time he decided to change his name to Akhenaten meaning one who is beneficial to Aten.

With these newfound religious ideas came new beginnings. Again throwing away Egyptian traditions he decided to build a completely different capitol city and abandon Thebes. This idea began the construction of Amarna or horizon of the sun which was built in a desolate land about 200 miles north of Thebes. Akhenaten’s justification for doing so was to escape the influences of the high priests. In the capitol he built the temple of Aten, a very open space that was built to embrace and spread the rays of Aten. In this new settlement he again defies ancient traditions and marries a commoner, Nefertiti.

Together they ruled almost equally. Within his regime to further embrace Aten he created the hymn of Aten which praises the sun as the creator of the natural world. This hymn had an overall general message which is life comes from the sun god and is distributed equally. Suddenly, Nefertiti vanished out of existence and historians today still don’t know what became of her. Along with this his mother died as well as one of his daughters sending him into a downward spiral of persecution. Akhenaten went so far as to blame all the gods besides Aten for his woes.

... five years. Amenhoten IV changes his name to Akhenaten and declares that Aten is the god of his worship. There are several possibilities ... a religious one. This is seen on temples that he built and depictions that we find in them. Looking through the ... ... Truth. Art during the reign of Akhenaten. D. Religion-ethics. E. Worship of Aten. F. Aten as sole god of Egypt. Acceptance of the ...

Pertaining to the hymn of Aten, after reading it there are many passages and instances of monotheistic ideologies. For example, “When you rise, they live, they grow for you. ” This passage shows monotheistic qualities such as omnipotence and Omni-presence. What is being said is that everything lives and grows for Aten when he rises each and every day. In return provides all of these things. Aten’s love and prosperity is given in order for people to grow. This relates to today’s religion because Jesus originally took all of our sins and in turn we must pray and give Him time. When we do this and confess our sins he will then help us “grow. This is an equal opportunity for all just like Aten’s distributed his life equally. Another monotheistic passage is as follows, “While you were alone, Rising in your form as the Living Aten, Appearing, shining, withdrawing or approaching, You made millions of yourself alone. ” This section denotes the presence of singular existence and omniscience. Aten alone rises and provides for the people and gives to all in its wonder noting the singular existence. As for the omniscience Aten knows that he does this and makes it alone apparent to each and every person in a different way which makes it all knowing.

This relates to the Bible in the sense that God see each and everyone and appears to everyone individually and works miracles for all individually. He makes himself visible to all those who believe and seek His help. Next, more monotheistic qualities are seen in the section stating, “The world came into being by your hand, According to as you have made them. When you have risen they live…” This passage also shows singular existence as well as omnipotence and omnipresence. It is saying that when Aten has made the world in its image the way he wanted it and created people in his image. When Aten rises people live.

As for the Bible, Jesus died at the cross for us and let us live that’s way today. God has created us in His image and this is how humans became the way they are. Both entities know how they are needed and know that they are all powerful and that they are basically what makes the world go round. Finally more monotheistic qualities come from the excerpt, “You are lifetime your own self, For one who lives only through you. ” This is a great example of omnipotence and omni-presence. If people only live through Aten then that makes him all powerful, and if one only lives through him that makes him everywhere.

... system compared to other industrialize nations. Another myth is that people live off the welfare system and doesnt want to get off ... families and are the cause of high poverty rate. Children make up 26 percent of the United States population.But they ... the women get divorced the men income still tend to rise. The single parent household that is headed, by a women ...

In circumspect Aten is everywhere, always for everyone. The same can be said for God. God is everywhere and available to all and He has sacrificed so much so things that came into fruition did the way they did. As far as discrepancies, the one thing that stands out is that Aten, being the sun, leaves and is invisible when night comes. Normally, worship is open for whenever you need or feel like so it makes sense that Aten goes away with the setting of the sun, but it doesn’t make sense why they can’t still worship on their own time. Also, Akhenaten managed to make the hymn about him by making saying that everything will flourish for the king.

This makes one wonder whethere he really cared about his people at all or just himself. There are some striking resemblances between Psalm 104 and hymn to Aten. One in particular states, “When you hide your face, they are terrified…” This could be related to when Aten goes away or the sun sets. The people cannot wait for his return so they could worship him more and keep receiving his blessings. This is a close relation in words from the hymn which states, “When you set they die. ” Another relatively similar message is when the psalm states, “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. This sounds just like how the people feel when Aten rises and renews their day. This is stated in the hymn in the passage, “When you rise, they live, they grow for you. ” In essence Akhenaten’s radical rule was far from the norm. He broke many ancient Egyptian traditions and it all just ended up self destructing him. His abnormal rules left a lasting impact though as it changed ancient Egypt forever and as seen in Psalm 104 traces of it are still left thousands of years later. Some of the resemblances between the hymn of Aten and psalm 104 can even go so far as to be said that the similarities are too close to refute.

... Illiteracy is one of the important reason which makes people become criminals. The person who doesn't ... are so many reasons in the world which make people become criminals. For example education, friends, ... legal or illegal. The overlook of educated people is different than the others. They know the ... or family. The most important question is why people commit crimes? I think the most important factor ...

Similar Papers

... model to explain events and situations that seem inexplicable, God gives people a sense of comfort and hope to know they aren ... to follow. With having these values, it makes it harder and less likely to live an unethical life creating a moral society ...

... this question as difficult as it may seem to some people. God does exist and is with us in everything we do ... choose and the freedom to live. There is no real "proof" of the specifi nature of God. We are not concerned with ...

... allow us to see stories and events of how people lived with God in history and set an example of how we should ... and still chose Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. God shows that one can make mistakes but yet can still be ...

... get on your pleasures (NIV). In this scripture, James makes the people aware of their need to pray with right motives. ... exhortation. James commanded the early Jewish Christians to live for and serve God.A second widely known feature is the looseness ...

... also wants to gain more respect from other people. Q 2. Discuss the ways in which ... compared to where the currently live. She also wants to live in a house because since ... how two characters from A Raisin in the Sun are searching for a better way of ...

... make up part of the population in Limbo, are the souls who worshipped a different God, people ... there are simply a few guidelines to live by. These guidelines are more commonly known ... technology to explain. Why did the sun come up? Where did it come from ...